First steps out on the ice

Not only is his sledge at its heaviest at the moment, but Todd has also experienced a few technical hitches to mark the beginning of his expedition. But for all that, his morale is sky-high.

Unforeseeable minor teething problems always tend to crop up during the first few days on this type of adventure, hampering anyone who may have set out on the ice for sixty days or so, especially if they are operating solo and unassisted at a time when the sledge they are hauling is at its heaviest.

In Todd's case, it is his computer that has started playing up, meaning that he can't send any messages 'live' for the time being. So his back-up team in Philadelphia is providing the daily updates, based on his daily satellite links with HQ. It also means that while Todd is making repairs to his equipment over the next few days, we won't have any photos either. A second small problem is that one of the fixings on his boots has already given up the ghost. And then, on day 4, one of his ski sticks broke.

The weather has been pretty awful for the past two days (Sunday and Monday), too, with particularly strong winds blasting their way along his route. The bad weather has forced Todd to stop and hunker down snugly in his tent, but has also given him time to repair his boot. His main hope now is that the repair holds up, otherwise his whole trek may be compromised..

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